Lets hope you are right, but just remember that Parramatta led Penrith by 6 points with one play remaining last weekend. They were beaten. The commentators had awarded them the game six or seven minutes earlier.

Being a believer in karma, I would not personally make such an announcement as the heading here does until the fat lady has sung.

fishwop wrote:Lets hope you are right, but just remember that Parramatta led Penrith by 6 points with one play remaining last weekend. They were beaten. The commentators had awarded them the game six or seven minutes earlier.

Being a believer in karma, I would not personally make such an announcement as the heading here does until the fat lady has sung.

That's not how the TdF works....Even if he crashed and broke his leg in tonight's stage, they would stop and wait for him to get back on and they would push him over the line themselves.

That was different it was a competetive Time Trial not a celebration road stage desgned for the sprinters to showcase their talents and for Cav to show off his green jersey (fingers crossed) The HTC train along with BMC will make sure no one tries to do the dirty on Cadel, not that they would as they would get flicked everytime they rode in the peleton after that!

Cycling is like a church - many attend, but few understand.Argon 18 ElectronDolan Hercules SESpecialized Hard Rock Pro

What about Greg Lemond? Did he have some hassles on the final day on the Champs Elysees?

I understand that it's just TdF tradition that no one attacks the yellow jersey on the Champs Elysees. I wonder if Andy doesn't have a somewhat jaundiced view of TdF tradition as a consequence of the circumstances of last years loss to Contador. Still he is very media savvy and he's is unlikely to do anything unpopular.

What about Greg Lemond? Did he have some hassles on the final day on the Champs Elysees?

I understand that it's just TdF tradition that no one attacks the yellow jersey on the Champs Elysees. I wonder if Andy doesn't have a somewhat jaundiced view of TdF tradition as a consequence of the circumstances of last years loss to Contador. Still he is very media savvy and he's is unlikely to do anything unpopular.

I think that the fact it is also a short flat stage means there is little point for a GC contender to attack. The peleton would mow them down.

Also remember that these guys are professional cyclists. It is their job. There is a certain amount of solidarity with co-workers. Evans has won on the aggregate of the stages that matter for the GC, there is little point trying to usurp this with a wild move on a short flat stage which is made for the sprinters. The competition for the green jersey, being for the sprinters, and this being a sprinters' stage, is another matter altogether.

As someone else said, LeMond won on a time trial, completely different situation.

notwal wrote:What about Greg Lemond? Did he have some hassles on the final day on the Champs Elysees?

I understand that it's just TdF tradition that no one attacks the yellow jersey on the Champs Elysees. I wonder if Andy doesn't have a somewhat jaundiced view of TdF tradition as a consequence of the circumstances of last years loss to Contador. Still he is very media savvy and he's is unlikely to do anything unpopular.

I think that the fact it is also a short flat stage means there is little point for a GC contender to attack. The peleton would mow them down.

Also remember that these guys are professional cyclists. It is their job. There is a certain amount of solidarity with co-workers. Evans has won on the aggregate of the stages that matter for the GC, there is little point trying to usurp this with a wild move on a short flat stage which is made for the sprinters. The competition for the green jersey, being for the sprinters, and this being a sprinters' stage, is another matter altogether.

As someone else said, LeMond won on a time trial, completely different situation.

Well done Cadel.

DS

I looked it up. I didn't realise that the ITT was the very last stage in 89 . I thought it was followed by the traditional finish stage. So yes it doesn't count.

Congratulations to Cadel, whose name will now be a household word in our fine land. It is remarkable to win an event like this at the age of 34 (actually I thought he was older, he does look older but it seems Cadel hasn't had the easiest of lives, more power to him).

I admit to not being 100% au fait on the sport of bicycle racing, hence thinking celebrations after the penultimate stage were premature. Presumably if the gap were only miniscule, the last stage would be a race to the finish. (And my French ex-girlfriend used to claim that Test Cricket was complicated!)

However, I do know a thing or two about la France and its inhabitants, having been romantically involved with a Frenchwoman, thus it surprises me not that a French bicycle race should be run, er, a little differently than other kinds of races. They like to do things a little differently, shall we say. And when you are in France, they like you to do them differently, too.

They are saying this will be bigger than Australia II winning the America's Cup. I think it will fall short of that, but be on par with Wayne Gardner winning the World Championship of GP Motorcycle Racing in 1987, and certainly he became a household name, and the sport gained hugely in profile as well.

fishwop wrote:.....They are saying this will be bigger than Australia II winning the America's Cup. I think it will fall short of that, but be on par with Wayne Gardner winning the World Championship of GP Motorcycle Racing in 1987, and certainly he became a household name, and the sport gained hugely in profile as well.

As it should. After all the TdF is widely regarded as the biggest sporting event in the world after the Olympics and the soccer World Cup. It says a lot about our parochialism that we hold the America's Cup above it. Maybe things will change. Maybe Team Pegasus will find its wings. That would be cool

notwal wrote: After all the TdF is widely regarded as the biggest sporting event in the world after the Olympics and the soccer World Cup.

Regarded by whom? How do you measure something like this? If by sheer numbers following/viewing the event, I would argue that the Cricket World Cup comes (a fairly distant) third. 1.2 billion Indians see to that. Australia won it 3 times running, so it was no big deal when the expected happened. Then there's Wimbledon, FA Cup Final, the Superbowl, Formula 1, MotoGP, the list goes on. There are a lot of huge sporting events. The Tour is one of them.

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